The Men in Her Death — Anne Morice

'I'm assuming that you want to see a murderer caught and getting what he deserves?'

'You bet I do. In fact, I hope he gets worse than he deserves.'

When a young American girl disappears from her flat and usual London haunts, her friends and family aren't frantically worried. She is over twenty-one, of independent spirit - the type who might conceivably vanish in search of greener grass.

But Sandy Thurloe is also an heiress and a disappearance can often mean kidnapping. So her aunt by marriage is despatched to London to try to find out the circumstances of her disappearance. Her first move is to enlist the help of Tessa Crichton, soignée actress and amateur sleuth extraordinaire.

Although some puzzling and contradictory facts quickly come to light there is really nothing concrete for Tessa to get her inquisitive teeth into. Then a ransom note arrives in America. From that point events move with menacing rapidity.

This cleverly constructed mystery has all the ingredients of Anne Morice at the peak of her form: a delightful array of characters, a fast-moving plot and a truly ingenious dénouement.

The Men in her Death was originally published in 1981. This new edition features an introduction and afterword by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

'Anne Morice has a light hand, an engaging ease, and an inventive mind: all welcome qualities in the writing of crime novels.' Financial Times

'The fun lies in the style, light and sweet as a soufflé.' Daily Telegraph